But how awful would that be? How terrible to live surrounded by the stark, sharp, hollowness of things that simply were enough?
Patrick RothfussRead
You are an educated man. You know there are no such things as demons." Bast smiled a terrible smile. "There is only my kind." Bast leaned closer still, Chronicler smelled flowers on his breath. "You are not wise enough to fear me as I should be feared. You do not know the first note of the music that moves me.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that true understanding goes beyond appearances and conventional knowledge, hinting at deeper, often darker realities that exist.
In this quote, Bast emphasizes the limits of conventional education and wisdom, implying that the real world harbors complexities and unseen dangers that an educated person might overlook. He challenges the listener's perception, suggesting that his own nature embodies a primal force that is beyond the comprehension of mere academic knowledge, thus implicating a broader philosophical discourse on knowledge, fear, and the unseen realities of existence.
Themes
WisdomFearUnderstandingEducationKnowledgeReality
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the limitations of scientific knowledge versus personal experience.
More from Patrick Rothfuss
All quotes →I wanted to tell her that she was the first beautiful thing I had seen in three years. That the sight of her yawning to the back of her hand was enough to drive the breath from me. How I sometimes lost the sense of her words in the sweet fluting of her voice. I wanted to say that if she were with me then somehow nothing could ever be wrong for me again.
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Using words to talk of words is like using a pencil to draw a picture of itself, on itself. Impossible. Confusing. Frustrating ... but there are other ways to understanding.
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Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts. There are seven words that will make a person love you. There are ten words that will break a strong man's will. But a word is nothing but a painting of a fire. A name is the fire itself.
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How odd to watch a mortal kindle / Then to dwindle day by day / Knowing their bright souls are tinder / And the wind will have its way
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All the truth in the world is held in stories.
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